


all guts, no glory

by jylliet



Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:06:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25830292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jylliet/pseuds/jylliet
Summary: soldier and demo just hangin’ out before succumbing to fatal injuries. stuff inside their intestines leaks out and stuff inside their hearts feeds the vultures.
Relationships: Demoman/Soldier (Team Fortress 2)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 26





	all guts, no glory

“air smells bad…” 

“it’s ya stinkin’ breath!” 

they both laughed as the wind picked up and wrestled through the old wooden slats. far away, leftover pistol shots hit cans and concrete; vulture cries scraped the sky; and underneath them a warm, neglected dispenser hummed. the dispenser’s soft light tried to curve around the wall and follow them upstairs, but its tendrils settled on the second step and reached no further. 

demo closed his eyes and heard soldier’s ragged breathing as he finished his enormous chuckle. 

“y’ever get like, that big roaring in your ears?” soldier shouted. 

“yeah! it’s blood, mate, it’s all the blood—” 

“my blood’s not much in my head anymore!” soldier grinned. 

“that’s f’sure!” 

demo reached down and got a big handful of soldier’s intestines to shake in front of soldier’s eyes. soldier laughed and then winced and then laughed again. they had tried to use each other’s shirts to hold all their blood inside them, but their blood stubbornly soaked through when their tourniquets loosened with the bloom and the weight of each slow gush. all the wood around them was clotted red. 

soldier’s guts still connected some unknowable bits inside him: things long and dark that hooked up all of soldier’s innards together. pulling on his guts pulled on veins and made soldier’s toes curl and warm sparkles glow on the bottom of his feet. when demo squeezed, more blood soaked into soldier’s fatigues and drooled on the wood below. 

the wind picked up and the squelch of intestines in demo’s hand was masked by the creak of the wood around them until demo squeezed harder. 

“gonna make ‘em pop!” soldier laughed. thrill or ripping capillaries made his stomach roll. 

demo laughed and then demo’s knuckles went white as he squeezed. soldier’s intestines crushed under air and the strain of pressure and slick organ against organ became too much. they burst and leaked all over demo’s hand. 

“that’s shit, man,” soldier said, laughing. demo squeezed again and leaned over to peer deeper into soldier’s chest. demo saw soldier’s heart skip a beat and then slow to a flutter. the heart, exposed as it was, looked weirdly small. 

“you’re gonna go into shock, mate,” demo said, still holding the limp, empty guts. a glance at soldier’s pale face confirmed it, even as soldier’s face twisted into haughty confusion. 

“i knew it was comin’! doc’s always telling me that, too, but i know i’m gonna die, i’m not shocked—” 

“BLOOD shock,” demo corrected. “your body, ya fud, not your peabrain, freaks out and gets all cold and sick. you don’t…” demo laughed breathily and smacked a bloody hand on his forehead. soldier laughed, too, excited that demo was laughing at him with all soldier’s guts still in his hand. “how long you been here again?” 

“492 days,” soldier said. 

“… that’s like… how many months?” demo let go of soldier’s guts to wipe his hand off on soldier’s pants. the guts dribbled down soldier’s stomach and slid off his thigh until they landed dirty and dusty on the boards below, connective tissue stretched and torn. 

“… i came in september,” soldier said, having to think much harder about that. 

thoughts of autumn wind and red-gold trees broke any concentration they could have gathered to divide 492 days into twelve months. a january blast of wind made the frayed skin at the end of demo’s various stumps shake like those golden leaves. demo leaned back to hit his head against the wall and close his eye. soldier’s eyes followed the messiest knot of his small intestines and imagined them all sitting in his stomach like normal. 

“shit,” demo sighed. 

“you get it off your hand?” 

“… yeah, but not what i meant. i’m gonna die of shock, too.” 

“yeah.” 

“i thought the dispenser might be enough.” 

“It’s downstairs, man.” 

“it’s magic, and it kept us going this long.” 

“still downstairs.” 

“yeah… still… downstairs.” 

the wind creaked again and blew away the soft singing of the metallic hum. something higher pitched and bright first licked the shell of demo’s ear and then buried in deeper like a worm. a million bullets raining down on thin strips of tin and wobbling. his head frothed white with vibration and sound. 

“ENGIE!” 

demo jumped and winced. the sound shook him and he felt like a beer bottle with froth bubbling down the neck. 

“the fuck are you shouting about?” 

“if engie hears us, maybe he can move the dispenser.”

“he’s not gonna hear us,” demo said, dragging his head back and forth against the wall behind him only to grunt and stop when the wood began to chew through his hair. Splinters stuck against the sweaty back of demo’s neck. 

“he could if he wanted to,” soldier argued. 

“they’re… i’m not gonna fuss at ya if you’re gonna be this thick. i’ll just die to prove it.”

“don’t do it on purpose,” soldier said very seriously. “if you die on purpose, then that’s cheating.” 

demo scoffed and spat at his blown off limbs. the urgency of his breathing ebbed. 

“yeah, alright. not gonna be long now anyway.” 

“yeah, then we’ll play cards.” 

“yeah.” 

soldier sat uncomfortably in the silence that stretched between them. the roaring in his ears hadn’t gone away, but it was slowing down. what had once been a waterfall was now a light trickle. soldier looked down and watched his torn guts bleed in the smallest waves. gently, weakly, soldier gathered up his guts and tried to put them back in the hole in his torso. somehow, even though they had less in them than before, they didn’t want to go back in. soldier’s hands were slippery with shit and blood and weird organ juice. 

“help me shove ‘em back,” soldier finally ordered, turning to demo. 

demo’s eye stared blankly up ahead. soldier followed its gaze and saw nothing but wood and bent nails. 

“… okay,” soldier said. “time to go, son. we are going to go downstairs to the dispenser and heal up and go back to the base.” 

soldier used both hands to keep his guts from dragging on the floor as he got up. staggering back into the corner, soldier let out a low whine as his head spun. there wasn’t any blood there anymore. 

“just… just down the stairs,” soldier muttered. “ENGIE!” 

the sound of his own teeth grinding was all soldier heard now. soldier’s heart stopped and his blood was guided by gravity alone, pooling downwards. his guts oozed dull colors until soldier let them go. they fell onto the ground with a splat, pulling at things inside him that were thick and corded and wet. 

“let’s go!” 

with a yell, soldier tricked his body into moving quickly. slow fingers grabbed demo and soldier fell as he tried to push and kick demo’s body away and down the stairs. with the help of gravity, soldier cried out in victory as he heard demo’s limp body bounce downstairs. the dispenser trail came out to reach him. 

“we’re gonna play cards!” soldier shouted. it was his turn. his heart was stopping. soldier staggered to his feet and let gravity be his elevator. soldier crumpled into a heap and his head hit the wall hard. soldier’s body rolled all the way down demo’s body until soldier’s head hit his knee, cracked on a corner of the wall, and bounced in the dust below. 

when the vultures heard nothing but the wind, they flew over and greeted the two dead men dreaming of playing gin rummy.

**Author's Note:**

> this was my contribution to the tf2 gore zine organized by skumsuck! it was awesome to contribute! 
> 
> comments and critiques are highly welcome :>


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